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Download a pdf of this checklist on developing and testing your business idea

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Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte, Ltd. | www.rbcrca.com.sg | +65 6423 0777|acc@rbcs.com.sg
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1. Start with the four P’s
Passion (seasoned with persistence)
What is that area in your life that excites you and emphasizes your competence at the same
time?
1. Create a list of your favorite things, those that you’re willing to spend for or spend time
for. Are you in love with computer programming, conducting workshops, or baking
cookies?
2. Create a list of your talents, skills, hobbies, or any activity that gave you awards or
compliments in the past. Even the smallest accomplishments count, like the time your
teachers asked you to join the graphic design competition at school because they
noticed the visuals in the projects you submitted to them.
3. Spot what’s common between list no.1 and list no.2 to come up with list no.3.
4. Research the industry trends and potential market for each item on list no.3.
5. Weigh and compare the results until you can narrow down 10 options into one.
Present
Look around. Watch TV commercials. Observe your friends’ posts on Facebook. Check out
what’s happening globally. The present is about the current products, services, market
behavior, or even cultural practices. Would these concepts last for a long time? Which product
or service can you magnify, twist, or reduce into a more specific concept?
Pain
Chaos, crisis, critical circumstances may be a source of opportunities.
Turn yucky into yummy!
What’s bothering people lately? Are there reports saying more people are getting sick
nowadays? Maybe you are into wellness programs like yoga, cooking, organic farming, or
vitamins.
People
Are there enough people who will constantly crave your product and buy it?
The most common reason why startups fail is they ignore their customers and the product or
service they designed have no actual market need.

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Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte, Ltd. | www.rbcrca.com.sg | +65 6423 0777|acc@rbcs.com.sg
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Here are two basic ways to know if your business idea is appetizing enough to people:
1. How many businesses or competitors do you have in the field? This could be a sign
there is a consistent business activity.
2. What are the categories in the field that are consistent in terms of revenue and business
expansion opportunities? Choose a category and find out how you can be unique in it.
2. Try these cost-efficient ways to test your business idea
online
1. Online groups
Go to Facebook and LinkedIn groups as well as Quora and Twitter. Go where your
potential clients hang out. You don’t have to share them the entire idea. Ask something
about one of the possible problems your product or service can solve, and solicit the
ideas of the members. Ideally, you should get a specific and tangible response, like “I
hope there’s a multi-purpose cleaner for all types of surfaces at home.”
2. Craiglist and Amazon
Try observing the amount of ads listed on Craiglist (or Amazon for products) for a
particular category or categories that resonate with your business idea. If you plan to
put up a marketing agency, find out if there are more ads about agencies specializing in

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Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte, Ltd. | www.rbcrca.com.sg | +65 6423 0777|acc@rbcs.com.sg
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one type of marketing compared to those that are doing everything, including PR, social
media, and events management?
3. Prnewswire.com
Browse the press releases. What type of companies is announcing revenue reports,
expanding overseas, or getting great customer feedback? Observe the field you want to
enter—how are your competitors doing? What are their activities?
4. Keywordtool.io
This is an alternative to Google Keyword, which you probably know already. Keywords
can give you tips about the angle you can pursue for your business idea. Take a look at
this:
With the results above, you will get the idea that probably, there are pregnant women looking
for softdrinks that as much as possible is healthy for them. There may also be softdrinks

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Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte, Ltd. | www.rbcrca.com.sg | +65 6423 0777|acc@rbcs.com.sg
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businesses looking for ways to design their logo or brand but they’re not capable of doing them.
How good are you at graphic design or branding strategy?
3. Approach groups and individuals in your community.
1. Go to trade shows, exhibitions, and conferences. Connect with fellow entrepreneurs and
maybe influencers in your industry and share with them a part of your business idea.
Ask for their feedback.
2. If you’ve already developed a product or service, approach a community or a local
organization that might want to try it out for free. Ask if they like it. If they do, ask them
your product’s strengths. If they don’t like it, ask where they experienced inconvenience
or dissatisfaction.
3. Ask yourself:
Can I handle feedback?
Many entrepreneurs fail to develop their product or service because they refuse to
gather perspectives.
Be aware of your unconscious ideas and emotion that can hinder you from approaching
other people that can actually help you. Learn to overcome them.
4. Just do it.
The actual way to test it is to…TEST IT.
Start small.
Approach a nearby store in the neighborhood, a former colleague who has a business too, or an
association you are a member of. If they get satisfied with your solution to their problem and
your customer service, word of mouth marketing will help you take your business to the next
level.
After that, slowly but surely begin organizing you’re the “business side” of your launching your
idea.
Register your business in Singapore. Find people who can help you out. As you go through
Singapore company incorporation, you would realize the other aspects of your business that
must be administered, such as accounting and bookkeeping, regulatory compliance, cash flow
management, and income tax filing. Hire a few employees if you’re ready. Outsource specialists
for a more efficient process. Then, proceed to your marketing and sales strategies.
But don’t forget that product development is an ongoing process.

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Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte, Ltd. | www.rbcrca.com.sg | +65 6423 0777|acc@rbcs.com.sg
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5. Develop your product or service continuously.
Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Keep exploring the possibilities of your product, the common behavior of your market, and the
climate in your industry.
You will get AHA! moments every now and then, and they would turn into business ideas.
Some of them would fail, some would succeed like crazy.
The important thing is when your ingredients and tools get burnt, your method
Hard work and patience always get honey-glazed rewards at the end.
It may not always come in the form of profits but the courage to continue innovating what you
serve to people? That’s what makes the body of the cake.
Steve Jobs once said: “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit
them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
If you are ready to launch your business idea and make it official in
Singapore, the specialists at Richmond Corporate Advisory can help
you with:
 Incorporate a Company in Singapore (Local Company, Branch
Office, & Offshore Company)
 Corporate Secretarial Services
 Nominee Director Services
 Income Taxation Services
 Compilation Report
 Accounting / Bookkeeping Services